Porous flexible metal fiber material for surgical implantation

A biocompatible flexible and permanently deformable porous metallic fiber mesh sheet consisting essentially of a multiplicity of interengaged and intertwined biologically inert metallic fibers, each of said fibers having a length in the range of about 2 to about 50 millimeters, and a diameter in the range of from about 40 to about 100 micrometers;

• said fibers being interengaged and intertwined with each other to form a porous mesh having a porosity of from about 80% to about 95%, and a thickness in the range of from about 0.5 to 30 millimeters, said mesh sheet being flexible and permanently deformable without losing its structural integrity and being characterized by an elasticity approximately the same as the elastic properties of trabecular bone, and being further characterized by having an apparent modulus of elasticity in the range of from about 80 to about 100 MPa and by a porosity such that bony tissue can penetrate into the pores of said mesh when said mesh is pressed against the surface of the skeletal structure of a living human or animal.

A biocompatible flexible and permanently deformable porous metallic fiber mesh sheet consisting essentially of a multiplicity of interengaged and intertwined biologically inert substantially straight metallic fibers, each of said fibers having a length in the range of about 2 to about 50 millimeters, and a diameter in the range of from about 40 to about 100 micrometers;

• said fibers being interengaged and intertwined with each other to form a porous mesh having a porosity of from about 80% to about 95%, and a thickness in the range of from about 0.5 to about 30 millimeters, said mesh sheet being flexible and permanently deformable without losing its structural integrity and being characterized by an elasticity approximately the same as the elastic properties of trabecular bone, and being further characterized by a porosity such that bony tissue can penetrate into the pores of said mesh when said mesh is pressed against the surface of the skeletal structure of a living human or animal.